Project Clear
Financial trends in child welfare drug testing, CPS investigations, foster care removals, abuse findings, and regional disparities across Kentucky’s Lakes Region.
What is Project CLEAR?
Project CLEAR is a regional child welfare oversight and data analysis initiative focused on examining foster care removals, CPS investigations, abuse findings, and government spending related to drug testing across Kentucky’s Lakes Region.
The project evaluates long-term trends involving child protective services, private vendor contracts, foster care placement rates, and socioeconomic conditions affecting families and children.
Through statistical comparison and interactive visualization, Project CLEAR seeks to identify regional disparities, oversight concerns, and systemic patterns that may impact child welfare outcomes.
Investigations
Analyze CPS investigations, case acceptance trends, referral growth, reporting patterns, and screening outcomes across Kentucky’s Lakes Region.
Financial Oversight
Examine long-term vendor payment growth, contract expansion, drug testing expenditures, and spending patterns connected to child welfare systems.
Regional Outcomes
Compare foster care removals, reunification outcomes, placement stability, abuse findings, and county-level disparities across the region.
Mission & Public Transparency
Project CLEAR was developed to improve transparency, public oversight, and long-term analysis involving child welfare systems across Kentucky’s Lakes Region.
The platform combines statistical visualization, financial trend analysis, foster care removal data, CPS investigation trends, and socioeconomic indicators into a unified public-facing oversight framework.
By comparing removals, investigations, vendor spending, abuse findings, and reunification outcomes over time, Project CLEAR seeks to identify patterns that may affect family preservation, placement stability, and child safety outcomes.
The initiative also supports evidence-based policy review by helping communities, researchers, oversight agencies, and policymakers evaluate whether intervention strategies are improving reunification outcomes, reducing unnecessary removals, strengthening placement stability, and promoting safer long-term outcomes for children.
Payments to Ensite LLC (2016–2026)
CPS Investigations vs Vendor Payments
Foster Care Removal Rates
Marshall County Share of Regional Removals
Substantiated Abuse Findings
National Foster Care Comparison
Regional Population Overview
| County | Population | Estimated Children |
|---|---|---|
| Livingston | 8,815 | 1,763 |
| Ballard | 7,626 | 1,533 |
| Marshall | 31,734 | 6,220 |
| Graves | 36,821 | 8,874 |
| Calloway | 38,975 | 7,132 |
| McCracken | 67,550 | 14,456 |
How Project CLEAR Can Improve Removals & Reunification Outcomes
Early Identification of High-Risk Trends
Project CLEAR helps identify communities and families at elevated risk before removals occur by analyzing CPS investigations, socioeconomic indicators, foster care placements, and abuse findings together.
Measuring Removal Disparities
The platform compares county removal rates against regional, state, and national benchmarks to identify inconsistencies and oversight concerns.
Improving Reunification Planning
Project CLEAR can track visitation consistency, service completion, placement stability, and court timelines to improve permanency outcomes.
Oversight of Vendor Spending
The system examines financial trends involving private vendors and drug testing contracts alongside child welfare outcomes.
Identifying Placement Instability
Project CLEAR can analyze repeat removals, foster placement disruptions, sibling separation, and time in care.
Supporting Evidence-Based Policy
Long-term trend analysis supports policymakers, researchers, and oversight agencies evaluating reunification and child safety outcomes.